Stumble
by Broken-Mirror1
Summary: Set after the departure of the helicopter, Caine and Diana try to work out their crumbling relationship.  CainexDiana


**Pairing(s)**: Caine/Diana  
**WARNINGS:** Spoilers for LIES  
**Summary: **Set after the departure of the helicopter, Caine and Diana tries to work out their crumbling relationship.

**Stumble**

Caine had been certain he didn't care about Diana anymore. He had been ready to smash that helicopter to unrecognizable pieces, but then Diana had taken one step too much and she had fallen backwards. Only a few seconds prior she had told him she loved him and Caine had brushed it off. She didn't love him, how could she? If she didn't approve of what he did then she didn't love him. Caine might have a warped idea of love, but of this he was certain.

He was going to deal with her later, but he had to take down the helicopter first and that cocky, little Sanjit who thought he was so much higher up the chain than Caine. He had seen it on Sanjit's face, in his eyes, that he thought himself better than Caine, but he had also seen the fear. He was good at reading people, especially seeing their suppressed fear. It thrilled him, the fact that people feared him. It even thrilled him that Diana feared him. She tried not to show it, but she did. He had the upper hand; he still did despite everything that had happened.

He had the helicopter in the palm of his hand, he had Penny dangling right over it, but then Diana had stepped over the edge. Something snapped in Caine at that moment. It was as if someone had flicked a switch. His stomach cramped, his breath caught in his throat, his heart stopped and for a split second he felt panic like no other surge through his entire body.

_No!_ His mind was screaming as he watched Diana fall as if in slow motion. _No, no, no!_ The first thought that ran though his head was _I'm alone now._ _Now I have no one. _Trapped on this island. Alone. Diana dead. Gone, lying broken on the bottom off a cliff, limbs twisted out of their natural direction, blood everywhere, bones crushed…

No.

Barely even a second had passed before he abandoned all thoughts of both Penny and the helicopter and all but lunged himself after Diana, hauling her back up, using his powers, with a desperate cry. In the back of his mind he could hear the helicopter leave but he could think about that later. He flung Diana back onto the grass and leaned over her as she coughed, the wind knocked out of her.

Caine brushed her short bangs out of her eyes. "Don't do that," he whispered, reduced to a quivering mess by just the thought of her leaving him, just the thought of her dead, mangled body. "I won't let you."

"Of course you wouldn't," Diana muttered after her coughing ceased and Caine frowned, wondering what she meant by that. Did she _want_ to die? Did she _want_ to leave him? "Get off me," she said next, her voice meek, and he sat back on his haunches as she sat up but didn't rise to her feet. She looked around. "The helicopter?"

Caine clenched his jaw tight before saying, "Gone."

"Oh."

"Yeah.

"Penny?"

Caine shrugged and Diana flinched.

What was her problem? Caine wondered. He had never gotten the impression that she even _liked_ Penny. It was a shame to lose her though, she was useful. Where was Bug anyway? Oh, well. It didn't matter.

"Great," Diana mumbled under her breath and got up, unstable on her feet and she swayed a little as if she might faint. She brushed grass off her clothes and turned around, facing away from him. "Stuck on an island with you."

Caine flew up. "What did you say?" he demanded, glaring at her back. "At least you're alive! I saved you!"

"What if I didn't want you to!" she cried, turning back around. Her voice broke and Caine blinked, taken aback by the emotion in her tone, in her face. "What if I'm sick of all of this? Sick of the FAYZ, sick of being hungry, of kids dying, of running away and so very _sick_ of _you_!"

Caine's eyes flashed as anger mixed with hurt ran through him. "If you're so_ sick_ of me then jump! Jump! Right now!"

Diana took a few steps backwards, towards the cliff. "Maybe I will," she growled, her eyes burning into his and Caine felt his stomach twist with conflicted emotions. He wanted to reach out to her.

"You won't," Caine said quietly, his heart hammering in his chest. Fear. Fear of being left along, fear of losing Diana, the only one that kept _him _from wanting to fling himself off a cliff. He didn't mean it when he told her to jump, couldn't she tell? Did he have to spell everything out to her? Clever Diana, how could she not _tell_?

"Give me a reason not to," Diana said, on the very edge of the cliff now. Her voice was so low and meek, her eyes so sad and shiny. Caine didn't want to see that look on her face, ever, but somehow he had brought it there. Somehow strong Diana had become weak Diana. "Caine, give me a reason."

"I…"

Diana held her tears proudly, but her bottom lip quivered.

Caine took a few tentative steps forward, then a few more, and a couple more, until he was standing right before her. She wasn't as beautiful as she had been, Diana. But she was still beautiful. Her eyes were still big and dark, framed by long lashes and her lips were still full and curved. To Caine, she was beautiful still, even with almost all of her hair chopped off. It was a shame, her hair, but Caine had realized long ago that her beauty didn't matter. Something about her… She had something that just… He couldn't put it into words, but he believed it to be love. That wasn't enough for Diana though.

"I don't know what you want me to say," he admitted, looking down at her and at the tear that ran from her right eye and down her face. He raised a hand and cupped her cheek, trapping the tear inside his palm. She leaned into the touch, her eyes fluttering shut as a shuddering sigh escaped her parted lips. Caine's eyes were drawn to them and he subconsciously licked his own.

Aware of the risk, they were standing on the edge of a cliff after all; Caine leaned down and gently pressed his lips to Diana's. She gasped into his mouth but didn't pull away, didn't fight it, but instead relaxed into it against all odds.

Caine cupped her face with both of his hands as she wound her arms around his neck, standing up on her toes to kiss him back properly. Caine could taste salt in the kiss; tears were streaming freely down Diana's face by now and Caine tries to put as much promise into the kiss as possible. All the promises he couldn't voice out loud, all the words he couldn't bring himself to say. He kissed her with passion, with love, with every emotion she didn't think he had. Maybe now she could tell. Maybe. He hoped so.

Their lips came apart and met again and Caine ran his tongue over Diana's bottom lip, asking hesitantly for entrance and she let him in. Their tongues met and created fire in Caine's stomach. He wondered if she had the same flame, if she could feel his promise, his unspoken words.

He slid one hand down to rest on the small of her back to pull her closer and she clung to him as if her life depended on it, sobbed into his mouth, and sucked on his bottom lip.

"Stay with me, Diana," Caine whispered against her quivering lips, eyes closed and rested his forehead against hers.

She nodded, swallowed hard, and ran her fingers through his long, dark hair. It almost felt like a caress.

It was dangerous, where they stood at the very edge of a cliff, clinging to each other. The wind could easily catch them and whisk them away but neither moved.

They were tortured souls, both of them. Stripped down to the core, deranged and self-destructive and perhaps their relationship could qualify as abusive and unhealthy. But that's the way they liked it, if they were both being honest. They were nothing without their fights, without the threats, the danger and the fear.

At this moment, Diana wasn't scared, Caine wasn't angry, and it might be forgotten tomorrow, or maybe even in ten minutes, but for now… it was enough.


End file.
